UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Initiates Coverage on First Niagara Financial Group

Bank of America Merrill Lynch initiated coverage on First Niagara Financial Group today with a Neutral Rating and $10 price target. In the report, Bank of America Merrill Lynch writes, "First Niagara (FNFG) is a commercial bank with $38bn in assets (pro forma) primarily based in upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. After considerably underperforming peers since announcing the HSBC deal (by 30%), we believe the challenging near term deal economics are already fully reflected in the stock." Shares of First Niagara Financial Group are currently trading at $9.45, down 1.36% from yesterday's close.